News

The Highway 9 corridor through the communities of the San Lorenzo Valley could soon be undergoing a number of improvements as a coalition of political, business, and community leaders have joined forces to enact visible change to the infrastructure of the roadway.

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Saying that she has not yet seen reliable data that a countywide masking mandate would alter personal behavior or lower Covid-19 cases, Santa Cruz County Health Officer Dr. Gail Newel said she does not plan to issue a new order any time...

Dear Readers,                                                                                                            May 1, 2020

More street lights, more law enforcement, a walking and bike path between town and school, proper restoration of the covered bridge, a new library and more downtown parking were common hopes expressed by Felton residents at a town meeting Tuesday, March 19.

Motorists traveling on Highway 9 north of Boulder Creek will face a full overnight closure Wednesday, July 1, as crews continue work on the Highway 9 San Lorenzo River and Kings Creek Bridge Replacement Project, according to Caltrans. The closure is scheduled from 8 p.m....

On April 16, SLVWD voted to raise the rates on bulk (surplus) water. The SLVWD agenda stated that there are “approximately 20 active surplus water users, of which, about 35-percent are higher usage and 8 have addresses on file that are out of our District.” The proposal was made to increase the rate from $31 to $103; in addition to ‘consumption’ charge of $10 for each unit of water (748 gallons) delivered. It was stated that “the intent of the change in Bulk Water rates is to discourage usage outside District Boundaries, encourage conservation and balance Bulk Water Rates more equitably with fixed meter rates and charges.”After much discussion by the Board of Directors, Director Baughman suggested going ahead with the increase and revisiting the issue later. Director Brown agreed. Director Hammer recommended that they “monitor who is buying and using SLVWD water.” President Bruce suggested that “staff bring this back to the Board with a quarterly report in three months comparing current information to information from one year ago.”In July, the next time that Boulder Creek resident, Daniel Burke, purchased bulk water; he discovered that his bill had increased “from $49 every two months to $172 for approximately the same amount of time from one time till to the next.” Burke is retired and has lived off of Harmon Gulch Road for over ten years. He said “I am not a commercial water user. I am not a water seller. I am not a water deliverer. I am not an agricultural grower by any means. We simply use water for drinking and for household use. And, we want to pay our fair share.”Burke is hoping that when SLVWD revisits the surplus water issue again that it will be “perhaps from a more human-impact angle and not strictly from a financial angle.” No one wants the kind of surprise that Burke received the last time he bought water, even when they “want to pay their fair share.”For more information see:http://www.slvwd.com/agendas/Full/2015/4-16-2015/4-16-2015.htmhttp://www.slvwd.com/agendas/minutes/2015/Minutes%20BoD4.16.15-%20approved.pdf

Caltrans continues with a vegetation control project over the entire length of Highway 9 in Santa Cruz County in support of California’s Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan to manage vegetation and reduce wildfire risk along the state highway system. The objective of this work...